The Breast cancer, alopecia, and gender: the female body in reconstruction the female body in reconstruction
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Abstract
This article analyzes the impact of chemotherapy-induced alopecia on the self-image and identity of women with breast cancer, from a sociocultural and gender perspective. The study is characterized as an integrative literature review with a qualitative and descriptive approach, based on national and international publications from 2015 to 2025, retrieved from SciELO, PubMed, ScienceDirect, BVS, and Google Scholar databases. Results indicate that hair loss transcends the physiological domain, deeply affecting the symbolic construction of femininity and the perception of the body as a social space. Alopecia emerges as a phenomenon of vulnerability but also of resistance and identity reconstruction, revealing that the diseased body can become a territory of empowerment. It is concluded that understanding alopecia requires an interdisciplinary and humanized approach, integrating physical, psychological, and symbolic aspects in oncological care.
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